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Two Thumbs Up

In April 2011 aboard NOAA’s ship R/V McArthur II, WHOI engineer John Bailey (left) and researcher Miles Saunders (Penn State) signal that TowCam is ready to go back into the water. During the Gulf of Mexico cruise, co-led by scientists Tim Shank (WHOI) and Chuck Fisher (Penn State), the TowCam located deep-water corals and hard-bottom ecosystems near the Deepwater Horizon incident. TowCam takes seafloor images and topography profiles, collects water and rock samples, measures water properties, and sends data to the ship. In fall 2011, researchers will return with a remotely-operated vehicle to assess potential impacts of the oil spill on these newly-discovered ecosystems.(Photo by Walter Cho, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)